On March 19, 1999, the first episode of Farscape aired in the US.1 A joint Australian-American sci-fi series produced by the Jim Henson Company, Farscape is a deliberately, delightfully weird show about alien puppets, 2 enduring psychological traumas and made-up curse words. The series follows astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder, not a puppet) as he is accidentally sent to the ass-end of the universe and is wildly, irrevocably changed by what’s out there. It’s goofy and emotionally nuanced in equal measure, and – while your mileage may vary in terms of tolerating said goofiness – the show becomes something very special as it progresses. While it shares similarities with subsequent works such as the Guardians of the Galaxy films and the later seasons of Legends of Tomorrow, at heart the closest point of comparison on the air right now might be Legion. Farscape‘s strength is in an emphasis on character growth as well as an often bizarre, experimental approach to storytelling that allows it to act as both a counterpoint to and a deeper exploration of existing ideas and tropes in the sci-fi landscape. Also Claudia Black does the badass space warrior thing better than anyone.
I was all set to gripe about how it’s not available for streaming but the internet is claiming that Amazon Prime has it as of… today? So that’s cool.
Embrace the weirdness and have a frelling great day, everybody.